October 2021 will always be remembered as the month when Bitcoin took the first solid step towards achieving legitimacy on Wall Street. On October 20, Bitcoin sailed past the $67K trading level following an incredible two-day rally that materialized with the listing of the first exchange-traded fund featuring a digital currency as its underlying asset.

Just as many cryptocurrency analysts expected, the Bitcoin ETF managed by ProShares has energized the entire market. Altcoins have benefited from higher trading volumes, and institutional investors are now paying attention to decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. The tokens supporting DeFi projects such as Binance Smart Chain and Avalanche have hit record highs in recent days, and it seems as if new investors are starting to see the value in this technology.

According to trading volume statistics compiled by Coinbase, the total value locked of the top DeFi projects increased by millions of dollars during the third week of trading in October. The overall DeFi segment has surged to more than $300 million in locked value over the past week, growing by more than 4,000 percent compared to the same period in 2018. The volume of locked DeFi funds reached $2.5 billion, the second highest volume in a single week since October 2018. In addition to the increased value in the top DeFi sector, this surge in value coincided with the historic rally in Bitcoin.

DeFi Lays a Foundation for the Future of Blockchain

DeFi is building a new financial ecosystem on the blockchain. Through decentralized finance and automated lending protocols, the DeFi sector is building networks where crypto holders can put their funds to work. With the emergence of decentralized lending platforms and lending facilities, token holders can utilize the funds in their wallets and earn interest from the lending programs. In addition, the DeFi sector has enabled its holders to benefit from high-liquidity platforms, and some of these projects are planning to launch new financial products soon. DeFi projects utilize innovative decentralized technologies such as off-chain protocols to build financial networks. According to the DeFi project Lend.Fx, DeFi enables all traders to engage in automated lending.